Morning, YG & LCN. Never got to glazing the pottery yesterday. Instead, took advantage of having a grown teenaged grandson here to help me with a dry run on setting up my Playa tent. Need a couple of new side poles. I shoveled, yes literally shoveled, out three quarters of a 5 gallon bucket of Playa dust from the tent floor. Obviously, but nonetheless surprising, how much weight that added to the rolled up tent. Otherwise my plan to pitch my tent under a Monkey Hut will work just fine. Will use sun screen fabric to serve as both a sun and wind screen.

Gonna be a warm one here today. Get out the shorts and short sleeve shirts. Summer is really here!!!

Hiya, LeChatNoir, good to see you. Thanks for the kind words, and I share those sentiments exactly. I've seen some people with pets put their companions through all kinds of ordeals in the name of holding onto them for as long as medically possible. We try to take great care to focus on his quality of life. That said, sorry if those updates put a bit too much doom and gloom in the room, things around our place really aren't tragically somber. His current state is actually pretty good, he's energetic (when not napping in the sun, as he is now), playful, and enjoys jumping and exploring our new place (we've arranged furniture, bookcases, and shelving so as to give them lots of space). He's also determined to be helpful on as many playa projects as he can.

I'm a bit sorry that we didn't make our way to the How Weird Street Faire yesterday, but got a lot done around the loft, and then enjoyed the quality time around here too. Meanwhile, we're on our way to another great weather day in SF. I've already gotten the first coat of sealer onto a couple connectors from the test-build, and in between a few other things I'll try to get over to the lumber yard later this afternoon. I hope everyone else's day is productive and fun and has a little sunshine in it. Busy busy, where's my caffeine and leftover donuts?

magicmarty wrote:Gonna be a warm one here today. Get out the shorts and short sleeve shirts. Summer is really here!

Ah, I knew I made a mistake, jetting off to Norway. Most days still require long underwear. But very little rain -- they are "crediting me" for bringing clear skies from California.

Several of the animals who spent the winter in the barn have been set out "to summer pasture". That is, the fields and woods where the public can see them. I can watch the camels from this office window -- a weird sight among Norwegian birch trees. The tiny but friendly "white eared silk apes" seem to be staying in their display building -- a bit cold outside for them. The display building is more like the warm room in the barn.

This place needs an unspeakable amount of work. Fences are falling down, non-code electric cords are frying, some of the foot paths are mud holes. But if anybody can bring the place up to snuff, I guess my brother can. And there is competent help as far as business expertise goes; just not enough manpower to rebuild fences and so forth a fast as desired. (My brother is the "animal expert" of the team.)

The new dam for the duck pond was built in a rush -- -- it leaks like a sieve, so we "officially" have no duck pond. Haste makes waste. The ducks and larger weird birds will have to stay cooped up a bit longer.

There are several kinds of mountain sheep and goats. Some that are called Mufflon (might be a nickname -- no idea of English name) are verrry pretty. A small kind of goat (African?) are escape artists. Those big horns feel almost magical to the touch -- very smooth. Of course, you have a bit of a wrestling match on your hands.

Big buck deer of some sort wants to fence with me, but I have no antlers to match him. A moment later he eats out of my hand again. Good fun.

magicmarty wrote:Gonna be a warm one here today. Get out the shorts and short sleeve shirts. Summer is really here!

Ah, I knew I made a mistake, jetting off to Norway. Most days still require long underwear. But very little rain -- they are "crediting me" for bringing clear skies from California.

Several of the animals who spent the winter in the barn have been set out "to summer pasture". That is, the fields and woods where the public can see them. I can watch the camels from this office window -- a weird sight among Norwegian birch trees. The tiny but friendly "white eared silk apes" seem to be staying in their display building -- a bit cold outside for them. The display building is more like the warm room in the barn.

This place needs an unspeakable amount of work. Fences are falling down, non-code electric cords are frying, some of the foot paths are mud holes. But if anybody can bring the place up to snuff, I guess my brother can. And there is competent help as far as business expertise goes; just not enough manpower to rebuild fences and so forth a fast as desired. (My brother is the "animal expert" of the team.)

The new dam for the duck pond was built in a rush -- -- it leaks like a sieve, so we "officially" have no duck pond. Haste makes waste. The ducks and larger weird birds will have to stay cooped up a bit longer.

There are several kinds of mountain sheep and goats. Some that are called Mufflon (might be a nickname -- no idea of English name) are verrry pretty. A small kind of goat (African?) are escape artists. Those big horns feel almost magical to the touch -- very smooth. Of course, you have a bit of a wrestling match on your hands.

Big buck deer of some sort wants to fence with me, but I have no antlers to match him. A moment later he eats out of my hand again. Good fun.

A few more days of this circus and I'll be home in Clearlake again.

can you get bentonite there? I've had luck sealing ponds with it, even when they have water in them.